Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Mom Always Knows Best.

Again with the silly Cycle Chic kerfuffle? It seems "Cycle Chic" is now a patented concept. It seems others continue to have trouble with the concept. I have talked about it manytimes before, so there is little for me to say about it at this point. This would just about cover it.

A couple of years back, I was visiting my Mother in suburban Los Angeles. As per usual, I took my bicycle with me so I could use it to ride around the neighborhood and across the Valley when we were not out as a big family. When I am down there, I usually ride to the cafe near her house in the mornings to grab a cuppa and to get a few minutes of bicycle peace before the family circus kicks in. Until this morning, my Mom had always viewed my bicycle advocacy and blogging as one of "those things" that I "do".

That morning, my mom beat me to the punch and asked if I would like to ride with her to the cafe. She was going to put on a skirt and I was to take a picture of her for my blog. And "not that Change your life one. The other one, Vélo Vogue".

My Mom, a seasoned, successful medical professional who manages a multi-million dollar hospital department, who will knit the world back together after the Tea Party gets through with it, who grows her own food and learned how to drive a race car had no interest in letting anyone know about how her bicycle has effected her life. She wanted to be cute and to be seen being cute on her bicycle. My 63 year old mother didn't feel like she didn't fit a mold that was being imposed on her by someone else. She could see the message for what it is- take joy being yourself while riding a bicycle.

So, for those who see no value in "cycle chic" I say this, if my Mom likes it, then it is OK by me.

7 comments:

Trademarked term actually. In very rough terms a patent would prevent you from legally doing it without asking permission. A trademark simply means you can't publicly call it that without asking permission.

Ben- essentially, everyone in my life knows they will be blogged at one point or another. I have put just about my whole family on the blog at this point. My Mom is not shy and was a wee bit miffed that I had not done a story about her prior to this : )

I love it! And I can relate. Ever since the SFBC Dress Up Challenge in May I've been taking photos for my Facebook page and now blog (ladyfleur.wordpress.com). When I visited my 80 year old mom I asked her if I could photograph her with her bike and she jumped at the chance. See how excited she is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyfleur500/5997230650/in/photostream